LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 81

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CONVENTION ESSAYS AND BIBLE STUDIES
has its social side, and while we can reflect on personal relations and even political activity within its sphere, we do
not begin in any of these ways. We Lutherans begin where
the Augsburg Confession begins, with Christ. Flowing out
of Article 4 on justification comes Article 5 on the ministry
and the means of grace. It says, “So that we may obtain
such faith”—so that we may be saved by receiving Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit—“God instituted the
ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the
sacraments.” Then, after Article 6 on the new obedience in
the Christian life, the Confession goes on to define the
church in Article 7 as “the assembly of all believers in
which the Gospel is preached purely and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.”
Notice that the church is believers in Christ, believers
who are gathered around the Gospel and sacraments. It is
not completely accurate to begin discussing the church by
talking simply about believers or about the faith that resides in their hearts. To think of the church only as believers is to think strictly in terms of result. But the Augsburg
Confession gives us a great model to speak also in terms of
the cause, the doctrine of justification. The Gospel as God’s
power unto salvation, power to build His church, will rise to
prominence in a Gospel-centered church.
So, what will this church look like?
1. It Begins with the Means of Grace
Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, and, of course,
the Gospel proclaimed—these are the things that both create and define the church. For it is in these that Christ, the
church’s Head, has promised to be with us to save and bless
us. To them He has attached His promises of forgiveness.
Through them He gives His Holy Spirit. They are the
church’s marks. Therefore the presence of the church cannot be established simply by counting heads, as a sociologist or a pollster might do. Nor can the true import of the
church’s activity be assessed accurately by human observation. In the means of grace, which belong at the center of
our understanding of the church, Christ has placed His
gifts. As the church receives these means, it is receiving
Christ’s gifts. Through them He builds His church.
In a church firmly rooted in the means of grace, Baptism, especially the Baptism of infants, would be seen as
the primary way of entry into Christ and the church. Our
faith in the real presence of the Lord’s body and blood in
His Supper would find expression in faithful, discerning,
and responsible practice. Such a church would emphasize
preaching that consists of the pastoral application of Law
and Gospel based on sound, biblical interpretation, not
merely on lessons in Christian lifestyle. Absolution would
not be turned into a vague statement of assurance, but
would be practiced as the very removal of sin that it is. People would be integrated into this church not based on their
activity on church boards or their involvement in small
groups; rather, they would be integrated into the church by
means of contact with the Lord Jesus Christ through His
life-giving, church-defining means of grace.

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2. It Takes Seriously the Public Ministry
When Christ gave the church the means of grace, He did
not leave their administration to chance. He gave the ministry as a means of the means of grace. So we can’t talk
about the church without talking also about the ministry.
Remember how the Augsburg Confession placed the article
on the ministry ( Article 5) directly following the one on the
doctrine of justification. It was given that we might have
faith. Furthermore, the ministry of the Word is not a
human invention for the purpose of smoother administration of a congregation or to facilitate socialization. It was
instituted by Christ precisely so that those for whom He
died might have, through the means of grace, the faith that
justifies them before God.
What would a church with such a view of the Ministry of
our Lord look like? Well, to be sure, it sees the role of the
pastor not merely as a “team leader” or as a “coach” but primarily a carer of souls, whose first priority is to give people
the righteousness of God through the means of grace.
3. Its Life Centers around the Divine Service
A Gospel-centered understanding of the church would
place the divine service at the heart of the church’s life. It is
there that the gifts of Christ, His Word and Sacraments are
given out. The worship service, therefore, is God’s service,
God’s work. We often think that worship is what we do,
that we are the actors and God is the audience. But that is
not true. Worship is the place where God does His saving
work.
What would a church that sees the divine service as the
primary place of God’s saving work look like? It would
make use of the historic liturgies and treat the divine service with respect, avoiding both mindless repetition and
careless innovation. It would not be idiosyncratic in its use
of worship formats. It would not treat the worship service
as entertainment. Yet it would seek always to showcase the
means of grace in forms and categories that are meaningful
and intelligible to the people of a given social context.
4. It Gives the Highest Priority to Evangelism and
Missions
An understanding of the church with the Gospel at its
heart would place evangelism and mission work at the very
center of the church’s purpose. Of course, we know this
well. It is the theme of our convention: “To the Ends of the
Earth.” As Lutherans, we know what we are all about. The
central activity of the church is to spread the message of
Christ and to make disciples of all nations. Our purpose is
not to bring people into fellowship with us, but with the
Lord, through the means of grace; not to integrate them
into the group, but into the Lord, through the Word.
What would a church with the message of the Gospel at
the heart of its mission look like? It would be mightily active, both pastors and laity, in spreading the Word about
Christ through home evangelism work and support of world
missions. It would know what its message is: not the personal testimony of an individual, not the selling of the congregation, or the marketing of any other product or “merchandise,” but the Word of the Gospel of justification
through faith in Jesus Christ.